A traditional Chinese herbal formula improves pressure ulcers in paraplegic patients: A randomized, parallel-group, retrospective trial

In this study, the efficacy of a novel Chinese herbal formula, cure rot and flat sore ointment (CRFSO), in the management of stage IV pressure ulcers, and the effect of simultaneous comprehensive rehabilitation in improving the outcome were evaluated. A total of 35 paraplegic patients with stage IV pressure ulcers who underwent reconstruction and inpatient rehabilitation from January 2004 to September 2010 were included in the study. Arnebia root oil (ARO) was used on 16 patients with 11 ulcers (stage IV). The remaining 19 patients with 20 ulcers (stage IV) received a traditional Chinese herbal formula (CRFSO). After 28 days of treatment, the wound healing results, in particular, the healing rate, effectiveness rate, improvement rate and no response rate were evaluated. Six patients from the ARO group sought other types of therapy due to their own consideration of poor efficacy. After 28 days of treatment, the wound healing result and no response rate demonstrated a statistically significant difference (P<0.005) between the two groups, suggesting that the novel Chinese herbal formula is an effective treatment for pressure sores in paraplegic patients. All outcome variables demonstrated significant improvement in the CRFSO group compared with the ARO group after 28 days of treatment, with a higher healing rate (85% in the CRFSO group and 45.45% in the ARO group) and lower no response rate (5% in the CRFSO group and 18.18% in the ARO group). The traditional Chinese herbal formula improved pressure sores in paraplegic patients effectively and inpatient rehabilitation was also significantly improved.